Draft:United Commercial Travellers Association
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The United Commercial Travellers' Association (UCTA) was founded in 1883. Following its incorporation in 1902, its full title was the United Commercial Travellers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland (U.K.C.T.A.) Incorporated.
It was a body formed to meet the needs of professional travelling sales people and provided welfare services. At its peak in the late 50s/early 60s, the UCTA counted 30,000 of them as members paying an annual subscription which was £3 3s in 1968.
Other membership benefits included a monthly magazine "On The Road" (later changed its name to "Selling Today") which was posted to all members, preferential motor insurance, parliamentary representation and educational books, courses, diplomas and seminars.
The Association had 200 local branches throughout England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic which typically held monthly meetings and social events such as an annual dinner and dance.
In the mid 1960s, the UCTA launched a successful appeal to members to raise £100,000 to move from leased premises in London to purchase a new, modern two-storey headquarters in Knutsford, Cheshire.
The rise of chain stores and supermarkets from around that time onwards led to a decline in the number of traditional commercial travellers employmed and, in turn, to a gradual and marked decline in membership.
As a result the UCTA was forced to merge with the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) in 1976 to form the ASTMS UCTA Section.